diff --git a/crates/typst-library/src/model/table.rs b/crates/typst-library/src/model/table.rs
index b10bfb002..18d38065f 100644
--- a/crates/typst-library/src/model/table.rs
+++ b/crates/typst-library/src/model/table.rs
@@ -817,6 +817,10 @@ pub struct TableCell {
     // TODO: feature gate
     pub header_scope: Smart<TableHeaderScope>,
 
+    // FIXME: this should not be public
+    #[default(false)]
+    pub is_repeated: bool,
+
     /// Whether rows spanned by this cell can be placed in different pages.
     /// When equal to `{auto}`, a cell spanning only fixed-size rows is
     /// unbreakable, while a cell spanning at least one `{auto}`-sized row is
diff --git a/crates/typst-pdf/src/tags.rs b/crates/typst-pdf/src/tags.rs
index 911278e15..6b0ee9a65 100644
--- a/crates/typst-pdf/src/tags.rs
+++ b/crates/typst-pdf/src/tags.rs
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ impl TableCtx {
                         }
                         a
                     })
-                    .expect("tables must have at least one column")
+                    .unwrap_or(TableCellKind::Data)
             })
             .collect::<Vec<_>>();
 
@@ -524,7 +524,12 @@ pub(crate) fn handle_start(gc: &mut GlobalContext, elem: &Content) {
         push_stack(gc, loc, StackEntryKind::Table(TableCtx::new(table.clone())));
         return;
     } else if let Some(cell) = elem.to_packed::<TableCell>() {
-        push_stack(gc, loc, StackEntryKind::TableCell(cell.clone()));
+        // TODO: set this in table layout
+        if cell.is_repeated(StyleChain::default()) {
+            start_artifact(gc, loc, ArtifactKind::Other);
+        } else {
+            push_stack(gc, loc, StackEntryKind::TableCell(cell.clone()));
+        }
         return;
     } else if let Some(link) = elem.to_packed::<LinkMarker>() {
         let link_id = gc.tags.next_link_id();